Vegas Cup - Day 1 Match Report

Today was the first day of Tommy's first out of state soccer tournament. It was really fun and exciting. We are going to build a match report for each match during the tournament to keep everyone informed.

Today's match started at 5pm PST against the local Las Vegas Sports Academy team. At Tommy's age they play 8 vs. 8 players. The weather has been bit windy all day. This made us concerned about being able to play balls in the air. Luckily the wind died down a bit in the evening and conditions were pretty much perfect. It was about 60 degrees which is a perfect temperature for playing soccer. They have beautifully maintained fields with very nice grass that is cut precisely short, flat as can be and the lines are fresh and straight.

Tommy started in the match playing the the striker position. For the first 15 minutes the game was a deadlock. Neither team had a definitive advantage and play ranged over most of the field. In the 15th minute, Tommy was able to break loose in the opposition box and ripped a bullet like shot into the upper center of the goal. The keeper was able to get his hands on the ball and saved the shot. However, the shot was so powerful the keeper could not hold on to the ball. The ball ricoched off the keeper and landed at the feet of Jakob Robinson who was able to finish the goal by tapping it past the still recovering keeper. After the ball went into the net, the keeper was shaking his hands as they were clearly stinging from the impact of the initial strike.

Of course scoring a goal gave the Rangers a huge boost to their confidence and they came out rampaging on the post-goal kick off. Within just a few short minutes (20th minute) Tommy was again able to break off his mark in the opposition penalty area. Jakob Robinson in possession of the ball just outside 18 shook his defender by kicking the ball between the defenders legs. Open and free Tommy received a pass from Jakob with his right foot. Touching the ball forward in a single smooth motion, Tommy beat the opposition keeper and placed the ball into the back of the net with his left foot scoring the Rangers second goal. Tommy was then substituted out to rest as Rangers had a decent lead.

Rangers then went into half-time with a comfortable lead of 2-0. Immediately following the second half kickoff the Las Vegas Sports Academy players came out in force. It seemed the tide of match had changed and that the opposition may get the upper hand. For the next fifteen minutes the rangers battled to hold their lead and regain control of the match tempo. In the 35th minute the Las Vegas Sports Academy was rewarded for the increased effort and intensity. One of their strikers moved free of the back line and received a nice forward pass from their midfield. Catching the Rangers keeper slightly out of position the Las Vegas striker was able to lift the ball over the keeper and into the back of the Ranger's net. Score was now 2-1 and the Ranger's comfortable lead now looked to be in jeopardy.

At this point Tommy was substituted back into the game to try and reestablish the insurance goal and lock the match down into the waning minutes. At the 39th minute Tommy was able to beat several defenders on the dribble moving the ball well into the Las Vegas penalty area. As the opposition keeper moved forward to collect the ball Tommy gently passed the ball to the waiting feet of his strike partner Antonio Tovar. Antonio cooly buried the ball in the Las Vegas Sports Academy net restoring the Rangers lead and setting up a Rangers victory.

From that point through the remainder of the match, the Rangers dominated the pitch. Las Vegas Sports Academy found their morale flagging and struggled to get back into the game. Soon the referee blew the final whistle and the Rangers had won temporarily moving into first place in their bracket.

Teams collect 6 points for a win and 1 point for each goal up to 4 goals per game. After each of the four teams have played each other the top two teams will advance to the Vegas Cup finals. Today's victory leaves the Rangers with 9 points on the standings. Standings can be found at http://www.gotsport.com/events/results.aspx?EventID=12244&GroupID=132199&Sex=Boys&Age=10

We will try to post match highlight videos tomorrow. By the way, I know we are over dramatizing this match; I'm not seriously thinking Tommy's soccer is this epic. I'm just having fun writing this with him and making it sound super cool.